Raleigh, NC – The Shaw University Lady Bears were able to overcome a slew of turnovers to prevail over the Virginia State University Trojans 59-55 in overtime Thursday evening inside historic C.C. Spaulding Gymnasium.

VSU forced 28 Shaw turnovers leading to 26 Trojans points. The Lady Bears were able to counter by going 24-37 from the charity stripe.

Shaw got on the board first before a 6-0 run from VSU put the Trojans ahead 6-2. The Lady Bears responded to tie the game at 6-6 before taking a 10-8 lead into the first media timeout. Not much offense came after the break as the score would be tied at 10-10 after one complete.

Both teams opened the second quarter trading turnovers before the Shaw went ahead by two with a steal and layup from Cherelle Washington. The Lady Bears were able to turn a few VSU turnovers into baskets as Shaw went ahead 17-12 with 4:46 left before halftime. Shaw returned the favor with a few turnovers of their own leading to back-to-back baskets from the Trojans to slice the Shaw lead to just one before the Lady Bears closed the half with two free throws to go ahead 25-22 at halftime.

The Lady Bears came out of the locker room focused as they extended their lead to 34-26 with seven minutes left in the third quarter. The Shaw lead grew to 39-28 with five straight points from Ashley Rojas. Turnovers again allowed the Trojans to cut the Shaw lead to just 39-35 at the under-five media timeout. The miscues continued as the Lady Bears found themselves trailing by one at the end of the third 44-43.

VSU opened a four-point lead before baskets from Nyrobi Pillers and Jordan Strange tied the game again at 47-47. The Trojans answered to go back ahead 53-49 with 4:14 remaining in the quarter. Pillers scored again to trim the VSU lead to 53-51. Makenzie Pollard split a pair at the free-throw line to make the score 53-52 with 1:06 left. The Trojans turned the ball over on their next offensive possession. Jordan Strange was fouled with 25.8 left. She would also split a pair at the line tying the contest at 53-53. Shaw would come up with the biggest stop of the game as VSU missed a shot with just under a second left sending the game into overtime.

Neither team lit of the nets on offense to start the extra period with VSU connecting on a jumper and Truth Taylor adding two free throws making the score 55-55 with 2:08 left in overtime. Pollard broke the tie with a three-pointer that touched every bit of the rim before finally falling with 57.8 on the clock. Shaw got another defensive stop forcing the Trojans to foul with 10 seconds left. Rojas split the shots icing the game and the win for the Lady Bears 59-55.

Rojas led the Shaw offense with 12 points followed by London and Taylor with 9 points each. VSU's Natalia Leaks led all scorers with 20 points.

The Lady Bears will take a brief break for a quick road trip to Bowie, MD to face the Bowie State University Bulldogs Saturday, February 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. inside A.C. Jordan Arena.